green_martha

I was completely wiped yesterday (still am today, but it's easier to concentrate, despite the fuzzy brain and runny nose, without the kids around) and was unable to scan and post those ones. I figured I'd show them here, as they are vaguely costume related. The whole concept of the series is not working out as I first thought, but there have been some happy experiments like these ones, with a combination or drypoint and monotype.

I finished the first pair of curtains, I don’t see a point in finishing the second pair before I'm sure of how we're going to hang them, so I'm at a loss at what to sew newt. I could start on the 1890s project, or I could make some quickie thing for the kids for Vizille. Heileen, is it still on for you ?

I should be about to jump into my car and go to the nude drawing class. Except... no. It's a mixture of being tired, not having slept well (thanks little Toad...), creative burnout on one side and too many project sinthe works in the other. Ont he whole, I feel like I might have bitten off more than I can chew this year with two courses at the art school. It takes away from the time I can focus on more directly work-oriented thing,s like creating product samples for my site. I'm probably going to keep coming now and then, but for today, I'm staying home and painting. with a little trip to a bio farmer's market when I'm finished with the white paint.
Yesterday's printmaking session was a disaster, very frustrating. The teacher is not really available and the group isn't working so great together - this is a brief sum up for a huge rant. I need to reconsider how I'll work on that next year. I might end up signing up for a course but only using the workshop outside the course hours.
I'm compensating by doing some graphic stuff, painting cubes for Heimlich. I don't think I'll finish something today but I'll have a good chunk done, that's already something.

My belated birthday present just came in the mail today : polished zinc plates ! Yay ! I won't have to polish those myself, double yay ! More creative time for me, less physical work for my arms, triple yay ! I love everything about etching, EXCEPT polishing. I never get it right, it eats up half (or more) of my art time, it's taxing on my arms, shoulders and neck, and holding a baby and entertaining a toddler at the same time is not that easy (doable, but really, I'd rather have one hand free to hold the toddler's book)
Typing made considerably harder by a cat who wants to HUGMUMMY!-PPURRPURRPURR... :)

I know, I should've updated... Rough days, I'm not really gonna go into that.
I have finished quilting the second petticoat panel ! No pictures yet, hopefully tomorrow. I won't assemble them right away. I want to prepare the pieces for the caraco and waistcoat first. Assembling is something I can do by hand while laying in bed, if I get sick again/have to get a lot more rest than now/whatever my body thinks is funny...
I also cut out the justeaucorps sleeves for my brother's outfit and have basted half the interlining to the fabric pieces. Just a little more handsewing to do, then basting it all together.... and waiting till we can arrange a fitting.
My plan for tomorrow's make-do sewing day - it got partially cancelled in the end - is to take the pattern of from my pierrot and start preparing the quilted caraco pieces. Work on the justeaucorps sleeves if I get to tired. And bake some cake.


I managed to put up some pictures of my latest prints, though. I'm starting to enjoy working with linoleum - I have given SpeedyCut a try but in the end I think I'll stick with lino, I strangely feel more at ease with it although it's clearly a lot harder to carve... I'm weird I guess, but the shipping rates for SpeedyCut really play in favor of lino as well. Anyway, those are linocut, and have been put up for grabs. I have quite a lot other projects on the back-burner, but right now I mostly need some rest. Stupid stomach bug hit me again :(

Here I'm sitting at my computer, gaping at the shipping costs for two miserable rubber blockx for engraving... And what does he suggest ? "You'd better order something else with it, at that price..."
Guess who has a few Frances Grimble books on their way to her, now ?
The blocks had better be worth the fuss, though...

This is the last bit of engraving I did, BTW, just drypoint and sanding paper on unpolished offset zinc.

So I finished the flowers and vines on the petticoat panel last week and finally started on the diamonds today. I'm still not pleased with the way this is turning out, I think it's my own perfectionnism talking for a good part, and for a smaller part the machine quilting + thin fashion fabric combination. *grumbles* Anyway, I figured out I had to make the diamonds smaller than I did in the sample, since the flowers are also somewhat smaller. I needed the more intricate diamond pattern to make the other part of the design stand out. I short, this means I've sewn down 20 rows before taking a break for tonight, and I've only done a microscopic amount of the work... *sigh*


I've also been working on some new plates for the printmaking workshop, and I'm *so* impatient to get those proofed... Last week's workshop was a [censored] disaster, because no one had noticed the acid was way too old, so I ruined one (or two, not sure whether the second one is salvageable) plate(s). I'm still lackign some supplies to prepare plates for etching here, so I just played with some zinc remnants I got and drypoint. But now I'm just dying to see how those print ! This printmaking thing really is addictive...